What is environmental crime?

What is an environmental crime? Environmental crime is defined by the United Nations Environment Programme or UNEP and INTERPOL as follows: “Despite the fact that there is no globally accepted definition of ‘environmental crime’, it is generally understood to refer to all illegal acts that damage the environment while benefiting people, organizations or businesses through the exploitation, destruction, exchange or extortion of resources, but it does not include only major crimes and transnational organized crime.”

The prosecution may use the wrong laws or regulations based on how the crime is identified and characterized. The term environmental crime has been limited by many recently emerging definitions that focus exclusively on offenses that violate environmental regulations or crimes that affect endangered species. The United Nations Convention on Transnational Organized Crime, or UNTOC, which allows the treaty to be applied to new and evolving forms of crime, recognizes the need for a broader perspective by neither defining transnational organized crime nor outlining the types of activities that it may encompass. It does, however, define organized criminal organizations.

What is environmental crime?

Environmental crime refers to various actions that violate environmental laws and endanger the environment, public health, or both. These violations may include, but are not limited to:

• Improper waste collection, shipment, recovery or disposal
• Illegal establishment of a factory where a dangerous activity is carried out or where dangerous substances or preparations are stored
• Killing, destroying, possessing or trading in protected wild animal or plant species
• Illegal logging and logging
• Illegal fishing
• Production, export, import, marketing or use of ozone-depleting substances

Criminal organizations began committing environmental crimes alongside other crimes decades ago, motivated by huge profits and light sentences. Many of these offenders began their careers in legitimate enterprises before opportunistically transitioning to crime to exploit weaknesses specific to their area of ​​expertise.

A network of people, some with specialized knowledge, engage in illegal activities, as in other forms of serious and organized crime. Legal and commercial activities, such as those related to industrial production, waste management, the flora and fauna market, or fuel production and distribution, serve both as the primary drivers of environmental crime and as the ideal cover for illegal actions.

Environmental crime is also known as green crime or nature crime. In today’s world, environmental crime is as heinous as any other crime. With few exceptions and in violation of several international agreements, the main motivation behind environmental crime is profit. Its characteristics are all too familiar: organized networks, corruption, money laundering, porous borders, illegal migration and the exploitation of disadvantaged people.

Wildlife criminals are as brutal as other criminals and their tools include intimidation, human rights abuses, impunity, murder and physical violence. In many sectors of foreign development initiatives, the evidence of environmental crime is clear. Major global problems, including those addressed by the Millennium Development Goals or MDGs, are linked to and exacerbated by green crimes, “which undermine development, peace, security and human rights.”

Some of these concerns have been on the table for some time. Yet, it is only recently that law enforcement agencies around the world have begun to recognize the role that organized criminal networks play in environmental crime. Organized gangs that exploit natural resources and damage habitats are increasingly responsible for illegal logging and wildlife trafficking, further endangering vulnerable species and ecosystems. These groups also deprive people of their livelihoods.

Environmental crime is considered one of the world’s most money-generating crimes, with annual illegal revenues ranging from US$110 billion to US$281 billion. The economic loss costs from global environmental crime ranged from €76 billion to €218 billion in 2016, and have been increasing since then. The World Bank estimated that in 2019, there was an annual economic loss of US$1 to US$2 trillion due to wildlife trafficking, illegal logging and unregulated fishing. In Europe alone, millions of euros are lost each year due to the profits of some criminal networks from environmental crime.

These crimes often fail to elicit appropriate responses from authorities and police, as they are seen as ‘victimless’ and low on the list of concerns. In reality, the consequences have repercussions for society as a whole. For example, illegal logging contributes to the destruction of forests. Deforestation is a major cause of ecological problems such as flooding and deprives forest communities of vital sources of income. It also plays a major role in climate change, accounting for up to a fifth of greenhouse gas emissions. Problems with the ozone layer, including skin cancer and cataracts, are caused by the weakening of the ozone layer, which is caused by the illegal trade in ozone-depleting substances such as the refrigerant compounds chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs.

Final thoughts

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to varying degrees of lockdowns in countries in 2020, including closing borders to visitors and restricting the movement of law enforcement and conservation workers. In the name of “economic recovery,” the outbreak has also been exploited in some countries to legitimately delay and reduce the implementation of environmental crime laws. Donor funding for key protected areas and species conservation efforts has also been delayed in distribution. Capacities for managing protected areas, enforcing laws to stop illegal logging, mining, fishing, and biodiversity exploitation, and assisting local communities engaged in conservation activities such as wildlife tourism and adopting deforestation-free commodity distribution networks are likely to be affected by these activities.